The Everglades

Since I am so far behind in my blogging, I am going to be playing catch up for the next little while. I still haven't finished writing about Israel, but I figured I'd give you a little taste of Florida. (As a side note, G and I broke up last month, so don't be confused when he is in a lot of the forthcoming pictures. This little adventure happened in May, and we were still dating then...)

I had to go to Miami to lay some people off at the end of May, and decided to plan it for when G was visiting so that we could go on a road trip. I love road trips. I don't love laying people off, but sadly I have had lots of practice, and am pretty darn good at it.

There are two ways to get to Miami--the Tamiami Trail and Alligator Alley. The Tamiami trail goes past lots of Indian reservations, and we took it on the way, and Alligator Alley goes right through the middle of the Everglades, and we took it on the way back. Alligator Alley is a strange road. There is a huge canal that runs along it, and you see gators all over--swimming along, laying on the banks, etc. There are lots of rest stops along the way to observe them, and a few gates like this one in case you want to step into the Everglades and go hunting. It was kind of eerie. It reminded me of "Lost."

Here are the canals that run all along. We didn't get any alligators in this shot, but trust me--they were there.
Apparently people dump bodies in the canal to get rid of the evidence. I'm pretty sure this truck was dumping bodies. I told G to let me pretend to take a picture of him so that I could get the license plate number in case I saw on the news that someone was missing. Not that I have a TV to watch the news, but I was trying to do my part to be a good citizen...
We took an airboat ride out to the Indian villages in the middle of the Everglades. You can see it behind us. Basically, it is a flat bottomed boat with a jet engine on back. The Everglades aren't very deep, but the boat can maneuver around on just a few inches of water. I loved the ride--there were tons of interesting birds, and there were allligators jumping out of the way of the boat all over. I think the Everglades are really beautiful, and I would definitely go back. Word to the wise--bring your own earplugs because that boat is noisy, and you might get stuck wearing the cotton they hand out to stuff in your ears...
We also went to the alligator wrestling show at the Indian reservation. Here are 10 things that I learned from the alligator wrestler:
1. There are over 1.5 million alligators in Florida.
2. They can weigh between 200 and 1500 pounds.
3. They have 80 teeth (40 on top and 40 on bottom).
4. Said teeth are hollow, and can grow back if broken.
5. The ridges on their backs (called scoots) act like solar panels, enabling an alligator to stay warm if he has to go down to deeper, colder water.
6. They hiss when they get mad or feel threatened, and it sounds kind of like a cat.
7. 1500 pounds square/inch. I have this written in my notes, but am not exactly sure what it means. I think this refers to the amount of force their jaw has, but I can't be sure. (This is what happens when you are trying to take notes and it's pouring rain and the only paper you have is a small gas receipt, and then you don't transpose the notes for 3 months.)
8. When an alligator has gotten into a scuffle with another gator in captivity, they have to keep them apart for several months. Alligators have very fragile egos, and good memories--if the gator who lost the fight were to see the winner on a daily basis, he would become very depressed and eventually die.
9. Before the wrestler stepped into the arena with the gators, he prayed and meditated and told the spirit of the alligator that he didn't mean any disrespect and was just trying to teach people about gators. That is how he avoided getting his head bit off.
10. If my career in HR doesn't work out, I am going to move to the reservation and try my hand at alligator wrestling--I think I've got some skills.
P.S. In case you're wondering, alligator meat isn't my favorite. It has a texture kind of like chicken, but tastes fishy.

2 weeks or 8 months. It's all the same, right?

For anyone who was worried that the alligator did, in fact, get me, rest assured I am alive and well. My two week hiatus turned into 8 months, but who's counting? In case anyone still reads this blog, I present to you a peace offering: a video. This is a new technological advancement for my blog (and still a little too advanced for me, since I didn't manage to get it right side up).

I have a coworker here who has become a dear friend. Her name is Robin, and I spend a lot of time with her and her family. She sends her husband to fetch me at the airport when I have a late flight. She feeds me dinner. She sends me home with leftovers. She keeps me sane at work. And her dad is teaching me to play the accordion.

His name is Gulio (pronounced jew-leo), but I just call him Gules (like jewels). Gules is quite tickled that anyone under the age of 65 would be interested in playing the accordion. He told me this weekend that if he was 27 he would marry me in a minute (this after Robin advised that I should never mention to any man that I was taking accordion lessons if I wanted to find another boyfriend). She told him that it would never work between the two of us because he would have to convert to Mormonism (Gules was raised Italian Catholic, but isn't religious anymore). He was quite adamant that he didn't care what it entailed--he would do whatever it took to win me over. How could I not love Gules?

So without further adieu, here is my accordion duet debut of "Let's Dance the Polka." Gules and I are already talking about open mic night at O'Brien's Pub...